Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Taimur Akram (Retd)
Executive Director, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad
Since centuries religion has had played a critical role in shaping national policies but the consequences had always been horrifying. The politics of the religion was one main factor that led to the thirty-years war, which shaped modern day Europe. But Friedrich Hegel famously said “we learn from the history that we do not learn from history” and modern India is the true depiction of it. A country like India, having a secular constitution and home to diverse minorities that practice different religions, using state machinery and imposing one religion is no less than a disaster. Idn Asia, the national policies and politics have been influenced by religion for centuries and India is no exception. Furthermore, the interference of external forces, particularly from the neighboring countries, has exacerbated the security threats in South Asia. The rise in religious extremism and ethnic bases in India has questioned the national policies of the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A Hindu nationalist and former member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) himself.
Hindu Nationalism in India
Religious extremism has become a new scourge in India since the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has assumed the office in 2014. The minorities in general, and particularly the Muslims are facing an existential threat. The clashes and confrontation between the Hindu majority and the minorities have become common and extreme than ever. Ironically, it is not only the minorities who are facing Hindu extremism but lower castes in Hindu society are also facing the wrath of Hindu nationalists. President Ambedkar Samaj Party, Bhai Tej Singh said in last the seventy-two years the Dalit people have had been, discriminated, oppressed, and marginalized on daily basis in schools, offices, business, and in fact in every walk of life. Furthermore, a university professor from India said “it is a very serious problem in South Asia, particularly in India and a form of social discrimination and caste is the very important factor in this type of discrimination.”
It was the 1990s when BJP, a Hindu nationalist political party having RSS as it’s a militant wing, started to become more active than ever. The secular and democratic forces were losing ground in the political arena of the country. In 1984, BJP only won two seats and in 1989 election surprisingly BJP won 84 seats including the most important constituencies of the province Uttar Pradesh (UP) i.e. the biggest province of India. Kalyan Singh, who is the current Governor of Rajasthan since 2014, was then the Chief Minister of UP. The first indication of Hindu extremism against the minorities, and particularly against Muslims, became evident in 1992. In the latter half of the year, Babri Mosque was demolished by a mob of Hindu zealots and it has been proved now that the Provincial authorities were involved under Kalyan Singh supervision. The demolition of the Babri Mosque is considered one of the important incidents that led to religious extremism, which has roots with the recent rise of Hindu Nationalism in India. In 1990, BJP had 121 seats and in 1998 election, after the dissolution of the coalition government in 1997 headed by Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, BJP substantially won 181. In the coming weeks, BJP secured 265 seats in Lok Sabha by making an alliance with United Front and in May Mr. Vajpayee became the Prime Minister.
According to unofficial records, around 2000 people were slaughtered on that day. The far right Hindus fanatics stampeded over the village, slaughtering the innocent, looting and setting the properties on fire. The Gujrat episode is one of the horrific and most inhumane inter-religious violence since independence. The paradox is that the violence was supported by the administration of Gujrat as it happened in the Babri Mosque incident. The administration was headed by the Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the current PM of India. Next elections were conducted in 2004 and won by Indian National Congress. Manmohan Singh became prime minister and remained in office till 2014.
Modi’s India
In the General Election 2014, BJP secured 282 seats in Lok Sabha which were 166 seats more than the general election of 2009. The National Democratic Alliance, led by BJP, won 336 seats and formed the majority government for the first time, instead of the coalition government. The interesting thing is that the Lok Sabha was without any opposition party, which give an extra advantage to the BJP to rule for five years under the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) i.e. ‘Hindutva’. The Hindutva ideology was coined in the 20th century but that time the Hindutva ideology was not exclusive rather it was against any kind of cultural or religious segregations. The ideology of RSS as Indian National is a thing of past now. The 21st century Hindutva ideology is primarily exclusive i.e. to promote Hindu values in India. The ideology preaches that the non-Hindu people shall adopt Hindu values, culture, and even language. Today’s India gives no option to non-Hindus, either they have to live as Hindus or be subordinated to the Hindu nationalism without demanding minority rights or privileges.
Since the BJP has secured an unprecedented number of seats in the 2014 election, Hindu nationalism has rejuvenated. Minorities like Sikhs, Christians, and Dalits are under serious surveillance. But there is an existential threat to the biggest minority of India i.e. Muslims.
In May 2019 elections, BJP won 303 out of total 542 and BJP led National Democratic Alliance won 353 seats in total. In fact, the number of Muslim parliamentarians in the 17th Lok Sabha actually has increased to 27 from 22 as compared to the 16th Lok Sabha (May 2014- May 2019). But unfortunately, the Hindu nationalism has once again dominated the 2019 election as only one Muslim represents the government and that lone MP is also a member of the National Democratic Alliance. Such an outcome has raised serious concerns among the minorities and among Muslims, as the previous BJP’s parliamentary term has witnessed regular deadly attacks and cases of lynching against Muslims.
Like any other nationalist/ religious governments PM Modi and his executive policies have been highly influenced by the Hindu religious rituals and the consequences have been dreadful. Some of the government policies are explained as follows:
Cow has a status now
In the last five years, there has been unprecedented increased in cow vigilantes against Muslims on transporting and slaughtering of cows. Including other animals, cow considers as a sacred animal in Hindu religion and since the BJP took power, attacks on the non-Hindu population have been unparalleled. Unfortunately, such attacks have been encouraged by the local authorities in the biggest democracy of the world. According to reports, there was only one such attack in 2012, and two in 2013. Between 2013 and December 2015 these attacks reached 100, leaving 44 dead and 280 injured and without any surprise most of the victims were Muslims. Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly condemned such attacks but such rhetoric lacks action. In post 2019 elections, if such cow vigilantes are left unpunished, as they were, the communal tension between Hindus and Muslims will increase.
Muslim Loyalty under attack
The incumbent government led by Hindu nationalist BJP has deliberately portrayed and labeled the Muslims minority as antinational, terrorist, rapist, and most obviously they have been labeled as pro-Pakistani. The strong Hindu nationalism of BJP has also questioned the loyalty and trust of the Muslims. Last year, BJP MP Vinay Katiyar said publically that the Muslims in India should not even be living in India and move to Pakistan.
Vande Mataram
Vande Mataram is a tribute to Hindu Goddess Durga and it means ‘I bow to thee mother’ and Muslims can not sing it. Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind previously said Muslims should never sing, Vande Mataram. Time after time, the official authorities have tried to make it compulsory to say Vande Mataram in schools. This compulsion is an obvious contradiction of the 25th article of the Indian constitution.
Jai Shri Ram
Jai Shri Ram is another Hindu religious rhyme which pay tribute the Hindu God Lord Ram. It says ‘Hail Lord Ram’ or ‘Victory to Ram’ and the Muslims, who are monotheists, are religiously bounded not to sing such songs. After the 2019 election, the number of Hindu nationals from BJP made it compulsory to sing Jay Shri Ram in the parliament and again the targets were Muslims in the opposition. Soon after the compulsion of singing Jai Shri Ram, a group of Hindu zealots attacked a group of Muslims in Assam and forced them to sing Jai Shri Ram. Last week Aparna Sen and other forty-nine prominent personalities, Hindus and Muslims, wrote a letter to PM Modi and asked for immediate action against the compulsory slogan Jai Shri Ram. She expressed the concerns that such compulsory Hindu rhyme will lead to increased conflicts between Muslims and Hindus and undermine the Indian secular democracy.
Conclusion
The introduction of such rhyme or songs is a clear threat to peace and harmony, in a society that is home to 210 million Muslims and other prominent minorities like Christian and Sikhs. The Hindu national policies of the present government have also raised concerns against the free and secular constitution of India. Since the BJP took power in 2014, the international community is also opening up against the nationalist policies of Modi’s India, but in reality, the Muslims in India feel more threatened and vulnerable than ever. Modi’s India represents a country that only represents Hindus, where minorities have no choice but to live under Hindu oppression.
India has been facing separatist movement since 1947 in different parts of India and Modi’s Hindu nationalist policies can lead to a major conflict between Muslims and Hindus. The spillover effect of such inter-religious conflicts can also take over the peace and stability of the whole of South Asia, and, in fact the world.
